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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I went to Cornell and it might as well have been a huge state school. So many classes were taught by TAs, I barely saw an advisor and so much self-advocacy was necessary. [b]I could have vanished in the middle of my first semester and no school employee would have noticed…until the tuition went unpaid.[/b] [/quote]

To the OP, if you're still reading this thread after its derailment: Regarding the bold in this post, it emphasizes one benefit of a smaller school like a SLAC. My DC at a SLAC says that if a student misses even one class and has not been in touch to say they're sick etc., the professors notice and will contact the student. With most college classes meeting only once or twice a week, missing one class potentially means missing a lot of instructional content, and in DC's field there are many group projects and presentations etc. in class time. And the classes, even freshman year, are small enough that the professors know immediately when a student is not there. The profs are not micromanaging the students, but want to ensure student well-being.

I'd add that this may be the case too in larger schools and in smaller classes in people's majors when they become upperclassmen, etc. I'm not saying that no professor or TA in any large university would fail to notice a student's absence or repeated absences. Just noting that smaller colleges where professors know the students better are probably likelier to get involved sooner.

Different situation, but: DC's college also has been very accommodating of one student who does not wish to return home to visit or live, ever, due to reasons I won't go into here. The college has rules about not staying on campus over summer or breaks unless you're working for the college or doing research for a prof etc.--but when the student's advisor learned about the situation, the college also quickly found this student a legit job on campus, puts him up in dorms, will let him move into his fall housing early, etc. A large university might do the same, of course, but it was definitely a very direct and quick process for this student to be heard and helped at this smaller college. Just an example for you, OP.

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